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| Remnants of The ghost town Scotia |
In Centre County, North-west of
State College, there is an area known to the locals as the Scotia Barrens. The
barrens are now included in State Game Land 176. Many trails are open to
hikers, biking, and hunters. A public shooting range is also located right in
the middle of the game lands. The Scotia Barrens is unique to the rest of
Central Pennsylvania. Due to its location and geographical constructions, The
Barrens has it’s own “micro-climate” where it is generally cooler than its
surrounding areas by as much as 10-30 degrees.
At one time the Soctia Barrens was
not so barren and just known as the town of Scotia. The town was named after
Angrew Carnegie’s homeland of Scotland and he saw promise with the mineral rich
area and set up mining. In the 1800s Scotia was a booming mining town and had
all the infrastructure many towns today have including a school, store and even
a baseball team. Unfortunately the iron in the area depleted fast and the town
met a pretty quick demise. The old road that leads through the Scotia Barrens
was once the Railroad. Only a few foundations remain and a few remnants of the
Iron Industry.
Besides the Barrens unique climate,
it is also home to an equally fascinating ghost story. When Scotia was still a
mining town, an African-American by the name of Bert Delige was walking home
drunk one October night. Bert had been upset about wages he was owed by
his recently deceased boss John Baudis for some time and was seen drunk many
nights and had found himself frequently having run-ins with the law. That
October night however, he ran into the widow Hulda Baudis. Bert argued with the
51-year-old woman about the back wages and the situation escalated. Bert
assaulted Mrs. Baudis and then murdered her by cutting her throat with a razor.
Bert Delige would later confess to the murder and was the last man hanged in
the Bellefonte Jail yard on April 25th of 1918. The body of Bert was
later laid to rest outside of the Negro cemetery near present-day Marysville in
non-hallowed ground.
Multiple sightings of a “black”
ghost have been seen in the Scotia Barrens and along the road at night. In the
1980’s a local hunter had spotted the apparition near nightfall on April 25th.
Unknowingly the hunter told some of the locals and was told the story of Bert
and how he was hung on April 25th. Since that times other hikers,
hunters, and motorists have witness the dark black figure lurking in the
Barrens. The resting place of Bert Delige is lost to only those who know where
to look. The stone marking his grave has been gone for some time.
